Metal railway tie



Oct. 21, 1930. L. MORRIS 1,779,138

METAL RAILWAY TIE Filed Dec. 18, 1929 Fig.3

Inveni'or AH'ornevs Frank L. Morris WJM I Patented Get. 21, 19313 UNITED STATES PAT ll FFICE FRANK L. MORRIS, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOB OF ONE-HALF TO ESTELLE A. MOGEE, OF LCJS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA METAL RAILWAY TIE Application filed December 18, 1929. Serial No. 415,103.

My invention pertains to a metal railway tie.

My invention is a metal railway tie ot' the general type as set forth in my prior Patents 1,189,719 of July l, 1916, and 1,211,951 of January 9th, 1917.

An object of my present invention is a metal railway tie formed in two longitudinal halt sections, each section having means to grip the lower flange of the rail and a tension device for pulling both or the parts of the tie together in a. longitudinal direction so as to grip the flanges of the rail.

In this connection a further object of my invention is using a screw acting device which may be operated to simultaneously draw both of the sections of the tie together towards the center of the track and thereby grip the rails. And in this connection I preferably use a screw operating device of a turnbuckle type.

Another object 01 my invention is in drawing the two half sections of the rail together towards the axial center of the track by a turnbuckle type of device, which may readily be inserted and removed and to effect this I utilize tension bars which extend through slots in the rail supporting bases and have a turnbuckle provided with hooks at opposite ends engaging these tension bars.

A further object of my invention is forming a tie of a box-like type when assembled and each otthe halt sections is similar in con struction and shape, whereby when such parts are fitted together, they form the boxli to tie. And in this connection another feature of my invention is making the rail supports on each section of the tie to engage an outside and an inside flange ot the two rails of the track, whereby when the other section f the tie is clamped to the first section, the complementary parts grip both flanges of the rails and these may be drawn tight together to firmly clamp such rail by the flanges.

Another feature oi my invention is making each section of the tie with a side wall and a base, a portion of the base at one end being of the full width of the tie and the center portion of the base between the two rail supports being triangular in shape, having an edge extending diagonally from one of the rail supports to the vertical side wall. Therefore when the sections are clampeo together and the flanges of the rails differ in width, the box-like tie may be slightly expanded or contracted in its transverse dimensions due to the wedge-like action of the two diagonal sides meeting.

li ly invention is illustrated in the accomvin drawings, in which,

.1 i 1 is a perspective view of one of the sections of the tie;

Fig. is a vertical section through an assembled tie on the line 2-2 of Fig. 3 in the direction of the arrows, the turnbuckle and tension bars being shown in elevation;

Fig. is a plan taken in the direction of the arrow 3 of Fig. 2, with the rails removed and partly broken away;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the tension bars.

Fig. 5 is an clevational view of the end of the tie.

The tie as a whole is made in two halt sections, each half section being designated by the numeral 11 and each having aside wall 12 running lengthwise of the tie and at the bottom at one end there is a base or bottom wall 13 extending partly from the end. lhere is also a sectional bottom wall 14 which has a diagonal side 15. There is an outer and an inner rail support 16 and 17 each of which has a vertical face 18 at right angles to the side wall 12 and an inclined face 19 forming an inclination to this side wall. Each of the rail supports has an upper bearing surface 20 to cup 'e part of the flange of a rail and an and inwardly projecting section 21 e the top of the flange 01' the rail. also a horiyontal slot 22 extending each of the rail supports, these slots being in alignment.

The two complementay tie sections are made identical and are that the diagonal edges 15 are in proximity to each other and the bottom wall 13 of one section e hollow sectioned nns in one end or Y tie and the end bottom wall 13 on the other section fills in the other end of the tie. This arrangement brings an inner and an outer rail support on each of the sections contigplaced together so uous to each other, with the surfaces 20 and the projecting portion 21 forming in effect a dove-tailed groove which engages the lower flanges22 of a tie 23. It is usually desirable to have shims 524 between the flanges of the rail and the clamping part of the rail supports. V

Tension bars 25 illustrated in particular in Fig. i, are constructed with a flatplate 26 having an eye 27 at one end and a circular head 28 at the other end. The plate sections 26 are inserted through the slots 22in the rail supports, with the heads 28011 the outside and the eyes 27 on the inside part of the rail. A turnbuckle 29 is then utilized to engage and draw the rail sections together. This turnbuckle is illustrated as having a nut section 30 which may be hexagonal in transverse section and threaded into the nut section there are the screw threaded rods 31, each rod having a hooked end 32, the hooked end fitting in the eye 27. 7

By this construction the turnbuckle maybe readily inserted in the tie after the tension bars are fitted in position and when the hooks are properly engaged the nut of the turnbuckle may be rotated and thus exert a tension on the rods and a pull on the outer rail supports 18 of each of the tie sections. This action pulls the outer rail support section 1.8 of one tie section into close relation to the inner rail support 17 of the opposite section and thereby clanips the flanges of the rails tightly in the dove-tailed groove. Should the flange be comparatively small so that the diagonal edges 15 contact, the sections of the tie will merely be spread slightlywider apart, but this does not interfere with the proper gripping of the rail.

It will be seen'by the above construction that rails of different sizeflanges maybe readily gripped and if desired the dovetailed shape of the groove to grip the rail may be changed or different shaped shims or filling pieces may be utilized to accommodate varying shapes of the rail flanges and in this adjustment the proper gauge or distance apart of the rails may be obtained, no matter what the size and the weight of the rails that are used.

Various chan es may be made in the principles of my invention without departing from the spirit thereof asset forth in the description, drawings and claims. I

I claim: p 1. A tie having a base and outside walls,

I the base being divided longitudinally between the outside walls forming two SeCtlOHS,'

rail supports extending upwardly from the base, each support being connected to an out sidewall, the supports being located in a complementary manner to engage flanges of rail, and means to draw each pair of complementary supports together longitudinally of the tie to clamp'the rails.

2. A tie formed in two sections, each section having a partial base wall and an outside wall with a pair of rail supports extending upwardly from the base wall and connected to the outside wall forming a trough, the said supports being positioned whereby each rail is supported by two complementary rail supports one on each rail, the said rail supports having means to engage rail flanges, and means to withdraw the said supports towards each other longitudinally of the tie to grip the'rail flanges.

3. A tie formed in two parts, each part having a base wall and an outside wall forming a trough, a pair of rail supports extending upwardly from the base and each having means to engage rail flanges, one of the supports engaging aninner flange and the other an outer flange of the two rails, the said parts of the tie being arranged-in afcomplementary manner, whereby a rail is supported by twosupports, and tightening means to draw the said supports together in a longitudinal direction of the tie to clamp the rail flanges;

4. A tie formed in two sections, each section having a base, a side wall with two rail supports extending upwardly from the base ing means'to support a rail flange and to engage the upper part of such flange, one engaging the inside flange of one rail and the other the outside flange of another rail, said sections being arranged in a complementary manner, whereby a rail is supported and gripped by two supports, the base between the supports having a diagonal edge from flanges of two railsof a track, and a screw means engag ng said tension devices.

6. A tie' having a base formedintwosecconnected'to the side wall, .each support havit Ill) tions, divided longitudinally, a pair of rail supports extending upwardly from each sec- "tion and each havmg'means to engage the base and the flange of a rail, one support engaging the inside flange and the other an outside flange of a pair of rails of a track and the said supports being complementary, the said supports having longitudinal; slots therethrough and a tension means extending through the slots and engaging the supports 7 for the outside flanges of the two rails, said tension means being. adapted to draw the said supportstogether and hence clamp the rails.

7 A tie as claimedin claim 6, the sections of tie each having a. side wall and each side wall being connected to two rail supports,

the rail supports when arranged in a complej mentary manner. forming a type of dovetailed groove to engage the base and the upper part of the flanges of the rails.

8. A tie having a base formed in two sections longitudinally, each section having a rail support and rail clamp, one to engage an outside flange and the other an inside flange of two rails of a track, the said supports being arranged in a complementary manner, each support having a slot therethrough, a pair of tension bars extending through the said slots and engaging the supports for the outer flanges of rails, and tension means drawing said bars together and hence clamping the supports tightly against the rails.

9. A tie as claimed in claim 8, the tension means comprising a turnbuckle with screws and means to secure the screws to the tension bars.

10. A tie comprising in combination a pair of complementary tie sections, each having a base with two rail supports, clamps extending upwardly therefrom, one being arranged to engage an outer flange and an inner flange of two rails of a track, the said sections having a longitudinal device, the rail supports having slots therethrough, tie bars extending through the slots of adjacent supports, each having an eye and a turnbuckle having a nut with two screws, each screw having a hook engaging in the eye of a tie bar.

11. A tie as claimed in claim 10, the said tie sections each having a side wall formed integral with the base, the base between the rail supports having a diagonal dividing line and the base outside of the rail supports to engage an outer flange being substantially the full width of the distance between the two side walls.

12. A tie formed in complementary sections, each section having a partial base and a side wall connected thereto with two rail supports extending upwardly from the base and connected to the side wall, the said parts fitting together in a complementary manner, each support engaging the base of a rail and having a gripping portion to engage the upper part of a flange of a rail, a slot through each rail support, two tension bars, each bar extending through two rail supports and having a head on the outside to engage the outer supports and having an eve inside of the inner supports, and a turnbuckle having a nut with two screws, each screw having a hook engaging in one of the eyes.

13. A rail having abase formed in two sections with a longitudinal dividing line, each section having a rail support with a di agonal face and each rail support having a flange gripping device to engage the upper flange of a rail, the supports having a structure extending from one side of the flange of a rail to the opposite flange, the said supports being arranged in a complementary manner to engage the outside and inside flanges of 

